State bar recognition for Rural Access to Justice
By James Card
The State Bar of Wisconsin recognized Waupaca legal nonprofit Rural Access to Justice with the 2023 Pro Bono Organization of the Year award.
The award is given to an “an individual and organization which have demonstrated dedication to the development and delivery of legal services to the poor or contributed significantly toward developing innovative ways to deliver volunteer legal services.”
Rural Access to Justice is a law firm founded and operated by husband and wife attorneys Robert and Amanda Forseth. The goal of their practice is to provide legal services to underserved and underprivileged residents of Waupaca, Shawano, Portage and Waushara Counties.
The award dates back to 1993 and past recipients include many private law firms, a few county bar associations and the UW Veterans Law Center.
The Pro Bono Award is also granted to individual attorneys and the 2023 award-winning attorney was Jennifer Binkley of the UW-Madison Law School. She is the director of the Family Court Clinic, a part of the Economic Justice Institute.
Rural Access to Justice was nominated for the award by Judicare Legal Aid, a Wisconsin nonprofit.
“We’ve taken a lot of Judicare clients. They cover the northern end of the state. Waupaca is right on the border of the northern side. They are losing attorneys everywhere, especially in rural areas. It’s a significant issue in the state right now. With us being located in Waupaca is kind of unique because a lot of nonprofits are in Madison and Milwaukee. We take a wide array of cases. We do family law, criminal law, estate planning and real estate,” said Robert Forseth.